This morning, Sammy Ussery will stand in front of a crowd gathered for his father’s funeral and give a eulogy about finishing strong. He’ll recite a poem called “The Race,” rhymed verse about a boy competing in a race who wants to win it for his father, but who repeatedly falls down throughout the race.

Yet each time the boy falls over, his father’s voice rings in his ear. “‘Get up,’ an echo sounded low, ‘you haven’t lost at all, for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.’”

It’s a poem Ussery knows by heart, and one he recites at graduations. The poem is included in a book he bought for his father for Christmas in 1996, in which he wrote a note to his father on the inside.

“It’s the race of life. It’s not how many times you fall or if you fall, it’s that you rose each time you fell,” he said. “That you get back up and you keep going, and you make the most of every day. My dad was one that if he started something, he didn’t just finish it, he finished it strong and did it right.”

Sammy’s brother Tim and his sister Tammy will be a part of the crowd. The three siblings grew up following vastly different career paths: Tammy — now Tammy Varner — is an account manager at Mitchell Communications Group in Fayetteville; Tim is the vice president of sales at Standard Furniture Manufacturing in Seattle, Wash.; and Sammy pursued the education route and was hired last year as the principal of Russellville High School. But the success of the three testifies to the character of their father.

Sammy will be one of several to eulogize his father, Jackie Ussery — known to many as Coach Ussery — who passed away Sunday after a five-year battle with cancer. He will talk about the undeniable impact his father had on the man he is today, a man responsible for shaping the character of hundreds of students passing through Russellville schools each year.

“He’s been my mentor, especially in education. I’ve watched handle pressure situations since I was 3,” he said. “And sometimes, he’d tell me he didn’t handle them the right way. If he didn’t do something right, he wasn’t a stubborn man. He would come and say, ‘I don’t think I handled that right.’”

“Always teaching, always teaching,” he added.

Jackie Ussery was a coach, a teacher, a father, and oftentimes all three at once. While looking through social media posts Tuesday morning, Sammy read hundreds of posts from former students, players and friends.

“I didn’t even realize it,” he said. “Dad came up to them in the halls and said, ‘You doin’ all right? You need to come over?’ If we were around people who were less or more fortunate than us, he was the same all the time. He’d help you if he could.”

His presence wasn’t just felt by students, but by fellow teachers as well.

“I’ve had teachers who have retired that I didn’t even know who said they considered quitting teaching early in their career, and my dad noticed something and encouraged them during tough times,” he said. “And later on, I know they became some of Russellville’s finest teachers.”

“I’ve been fortunate all my life” is a phrase Jackie Ussery used often. He was raised in a small one-bedroom house in Mount Vernon by a loving family. He graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1971 and attended Central Baptist College on a basketball scholarship. When he got his degree from UCA and landed his first job as a teacher/coach in 1977, he already had his hands full with three children. He landed a coaching job at Russellville in 1995, where he worked in different capacities for 13 years.

He juggled both family and work through most of his adult life. While he faced adversity, both on and off the court, he was often able to turn it into a learning experience for his children.

“He didn’t have a lot, but Dad was always a guy who said you’re going to be tested in life,” Sammy Ussery said. “And he said you need to take advantage of those times by learning from them. He persevered through some things in life that made him stronger. I saw him handle adversity better than anybody.”

But the beginnings of his father’s biggest and last test came maybe 20 years ago, although he didn’t fully face it until 2008.

“He wasn’t feeling well, and was missing a little bit of work,” Sammy said of the months leading up to his diagnosis. “He said that he was just getting older, and we didn’t think much about it. But then my sister, the smart one of the bunch, said we’re going to the doctor.”

Doctors diagnosed him with carcinoid cancer, a rare liver cancer that had likely metastasized from the lower intestines. Being a slow-growing cancer, doctors estimated that he probably had the cancer for 10 to 12 years.

Upon finding out he had an illness that would require him to retire from the school district, Jackie was retrospective but upbeat.

“He said, ‘Guys, I’ve had more fun in my 55 years than most people could have in 100,’” Sammy Ussery said.

He finished work as best he could while beginning chemo-mobilization with a specialist in New Orleans. After finishing the treatment, doctors gave him a broad but short window for life expectancy.

“They said they’ve seen guys in his shape walk out of here and live for six weeks and live a maximum of three years,” Sammy Ussery said.

Upon going home, Jackie Ussery did something many people couldn’t do facing a cancer that would likely end their life: He was all smiles.

“He was happy ever since we came home,” Sammy Ussery said. “He said, ‘I’m going to live happy and do what I want and try to do the things the doctors say.’”

Doctors said a maximum of three years, but five years later, Jackie had yet to succumb to the illness, although his condition had worsened to the point that he was admitted into hospice care. While the nurses brought in items for Jackie that would require him to move less, he insisted on grabbing the little exercise he could.

“He said, ‘I’m going to the real bathroom. Six more steps gets me a little more exercise, which gets me a some more water and a little more nutrients in me,’” Sammy Ussery said.

Hospice doctors estimated he would live anywhere from 72 hours to 10 days. He died 30 days later, all the while telling his family how fortunate he was.

“He said a few weeks ago, ‘I’ve been fortunate all my life, and I’m still fortunate,’” Sammy Ussery said. “And he said, ‘You are, too. Take advantage of every day, and try to help people when you can.’”

On Sunday, Jackie Ussery did something every person will do in their lives, although few will do it with the grace, love and willpower that he did.